


chem labs

by LR00



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Chemistry, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29877702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LR00/pseuds/LR00
Summary: Chemistry with a safety hazard is always chaotic. Still fun if no one dies.
Relationships: Denmark & Norway (Hetalia)
Kudos: 1





	chem labs

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like my grammar etc just died halfway through so if you find mistakes, please point them out, thank you

While it was not obvious from his body language, Lukas _was_ excited about the day’s Chemistry lesson. Usually, the 2 hours of just sitting in class listening to the teacher ramble on about the states of matter were unbearably dull but that week they were going to have their first lab session. They had already received the practical worksheet and it was admittedly not much better than the theory lessons, but they would be learning how to light a bunsen burner which sounded quite fun.

Luckily enough, the Chemistry labs were right below his classroom. Last week the whole class had ended up quite lost while trying to make their way to the Physics lab, resulting in baffled and amused looks from their seniors who seemed to believe that finding new rooms in a new school was easy. 

As Lukas walked to the labs with his classmates, he thought about who he was likely going to be partnered with. The Physics lab had seats allocated in alphabetical order, so if the Chemistry labs were similar he would either be with Yi Ling or Mathias. Most likely Mathias since it made the most sense that they would be in pairs. He wasn’t entirely certain if that was a good or bad thing. On one hand, Mathias was very social and had enough to say that Lukas had to put in no effort when avoiding awkwardness. On the other hand, Mathias seemed extremely chaotic and practicals with him were probably not going to be safe.

_It’s not like I would be able to convince the teachers to change the pairings if they did it like that anyway_. They walked past the first lab which had older students either paying a lot of attention to a demonstration their teacher was doing or dropping chemicals onto the table. There was a noticeboard which showed which classes were supposed to be using which lab at what time which could be useful but would probably end up ignored in favour of walking around, looking for a lab with their teacher.

As he entered the lab and walked to his seat, he found out that he was indeed going to be with Mathias for at least the semester, probably much longer. Going by alphabetical order, he was the 17th student while Mathias was the 18th student, dooming them together for almost everything with fixed groupings. _Hopefully it won’t be too bad_ , he thought to himself as he sat next to Mathias, ignoring the high-five offered or his dramatic reaction to it.

The teacher waited until the rest of the class had streamed in before starting the briefing. Immediately, people started to zone out or poke the various bottles of chemicals around the lab.

“We already went through the safety procedures in class, why are we doing it _again_ ?” Mathias hissed. Lukas nodded in agreement. All the classes had spent an hour going through all the things to keep in mind in the lab, what to do in an emergency, what labels on chemicals meant and so on. The additional briefing was just incredibly pointless since hardly anyone was paying attention _anyway_. Thankfully their teacher seemed to realise this and he quickly moved on to the briefing for the actual practical.

“Alright now come to the front and I am going to show you how to use the bunsen burner. After this each of you will take turns lighting it in your pairs so pay attention,” he said. The whole class started to crowd around the table at the front while the teacher told them to spread out so that everyone could see. Eventually, everyone settled into a mess of people leaning on each other as they bent in awkward positions to try catch a glimpse of whatever the teacher was going to do. The teacher looked at the mess before him, seemed to accept that it was beyond saving and started showing them the various steps to lighting a bunsen burner properly.

  
As the teacher successfully lit a very blue flame, Lukas couldn’t help but feel a little excited about eventually trying it himself. There was rarely any need to use matches or lighters at home, and his parents were reluctant to let him set fire to anything claiming that Eirik would immediately want to have a go even if he was ‘too young’ so he was stuck waiting for camps and other opportunities to light fires, mainly provided by the school.

After the demonstration, they were told to return to their seats and in their pairs take turns lighting the bunsen burner while the other person checked that all safety requirements were met. Mathias looked as excited as Lukas himself was feeling. There was a slight gnawing feeling in his stomach but the idea of finally getting to light blue fires made his head feel incredibly high and energised.

“Do you want to go first?’ Mathias asked him. Lukas wondered if Mathias was worried about doing something wrong or if he was genuinely being nice.

“Sure,” he said, moving forward to stand in front of the rather rusty bunsen burner. He picked up the lighter from the tray on the table and just held it for a second, trying to accept the fact that _he was going to light a fire in an actual chemistry lab on his own_.

“Goggles,” Mathias reminded him. 

“Right,” he said, putting the lighter down and reaching to grab the rather uncomfortable plastic monstrosities. He could understand the reasoning behind wearing safety goggles when chemicals were being used and being splashed in the eyes was an actual possibility but it just felt like a hindrance. Lukas picked up the lighter again and tried to move to a position where he could light it without setting his arm on fire.

He quickly checked that the air hole was closed before inhaling deeply, pushing the gas knob down and turning it. He pressed the lighter and tried to keep his hand steady. No flame sprung to life so he quickly released the gas knob and stepped back, feeling slightly relieved. 

“Maybe you should just rest the lighter tip on the top of the bunsen burner?” Mathias suggested, some of his energy replaced with the shaky relief Lukas was feeling. At the front of the class, Feliks started clapping enthusiastically as Eduard successfully lit his flame. Most of their classmates were unsuccessful in their first attempts though, and most seemed satisfied that they hadn’t accidentally blown up the lab.

“Okay,” Lukas said, unable to see any reason why Mathias’s suggestion would be a bad one. He went through the process and tried clicking the lighter harder and faster this time, unsure if it would help. He felt a sudden burst of heat in front of him and quickly straightened up to see a very yellow flame dancing away. Mathias cheered enthusiastically and Lukas couldn’t help but smile as he adjusted the air hole to get the thin, blue flame. He took a moment to enjoy his success before he turned the gas knob again, ending the flame.

“Your turn,” he told Mathias who took his place in front of the bunsen burner. He almost started to light it but before Lukas could say anything, he realised he had to adjust the air hole and did so, cursing as it turned out to be hotter than he expected. Mathias tried a few times though it refused to light up. He bent over the bunsen burner trying to see if the lighter was actually at the correct position and if it was actually sparking before clicking the lighter a few times. Just as he was about to stand back up and declare the lighter dead, the bunsen burner lit up. Mathias jumped back, dropping the lighter on the table. Quickly, he turned the gas knob, ensuring it could no longer hurt him. 

“I burnt my _hair_!” Mathias said, slightly panicked. Lukas looked at his hair and saw that some parts were slightly singed. Lukas buried his face in his hands as he started to laugh silently, finding the situation ridiculous. Mathias pouted slightly for a while before joining in. It seemed like his lab partner for the year was going to be a safety hazard, but at least it was going to be providing him with endless amounts of entertainment.

  
  



End file.
